Exciting day - rebuild of 78 coupe

[Oneball]

You’ve got me worried about mine. I’ve replaced the windscreen frame too

 

[johng]

Surely you're not worried about a bit of rain getting into a racecar!

 

[Oneball]

Surely you're not worried about a bit of rain getting into a racecar!

Ive never been in a race car that doesn’t leak so my goal with this one was to make one that doesn’t!

 

[johng]

I don't think you're going to notice with all the sweat that's going to pouring off you.

 

[Mad4slalom]

Could it be the stainless t trim?

I have a pair of tatty tops here you are welcome to if yours are warped. You would need to strip and paint them and swap your trim and seals and hardware over tho.

 

[Chuffer]

The panels might have distorted a little if the car has been jacked up with the panels locked down in its earlier life . I read somewhere a while back that if you have glass panels ( as I do) and you don`t release the tension on the latches before jacking , the glass can crack due to the slight twist in the chassis / bird cage .

 

[johng]

I have a pair of tatty tops here you are welcome to if yours are warped. You would need to strip and paint them and swap your trim and seals and hardware over tho.

Thanks for the very generous offer, but I'm hopeful of finding a way to seal mine up. If not, then a little water leak can be part of the "character" of an old car

 

[Chuffer]

Thanks for the very generous offer, but I'm hopeful of finding a way to seal mine up. If not, then a little water leak can be part of the "character" of an old car

But think of all that aerodynamic drag at speed if you don`t fix it , it might cost you 0.000025 seconds per lap !

 

[johng]

Took a couple of photos, still looks bowed to me.

 

[Oneball]

Does, doesn’t it. Maybe the airing cupboard with some weights for a week?

 

[Chuffer]

That is quite a substantial bow isn`t it ?

 

[Mad4slalom]

Thanks for the very generous offer, but I'm hopeful of finding a way to seal mine up. If not, then a little water leak can be part of the "character" of an old car

No probs, a friend with a 68 locally was telling me how a few years ago he did a weekly commute between the isle of wight and cornwall in his 76 vette , when it rained the water used to blow up the screen, straight under the top and into the cockpit,

 

[Mad4slalom]

The panels might have distorted a little if the car has been jacked up with the panels locked down in its earlier life . I read somewhere a while back that if you have glass panels ( as I do) and you don`t release the tension on the latches before jacking , the glass can crack due to the slight twist in the chassis / bird cage .

When I leave my bumpy drive , the car flexes side to side and i can hear my tops flexing and creaking

 

[johng]

Does, doesn’t it. Maybe the airing cupboard with some weights for a week?

Slight problem there, we don't have an airing cupboard, just a high pressure hot water tank in the loft.

 

[Oneball]

Slight problem there, we don't have an airing cupboard, just a high pressure hot water tank in the loft.

Now you’ve finished the bathroom you ought to be able to knock one up

 

[Chuffer]

When I leave my bumpy drive , the car flexes side to side and i can hear my tops flexing and creaking

Mine creaks too .But if cars didn`t flex a bit they would shake themselves apart .

 

[mickn]

When I leave my bumpy drive , the car flexes side to side and i can hear my tops flexing and creaking

Buy a convertible or tarmac your drive I'm good at this advice stuff

 

[Mad4slalom]

Buy a convertible or tarmac your drive I'm good at this advice stuff

Last time some pikey offered to tarmac the drive coz he was in the area doing a job “down de road” and we got some tarmac left over , when I asked the price it was 12 K . I could swap for vert but instead of the tops creaking , the doors may open of their own accord over the bumps

 

[Roscobbc]

When I leave my bumpy drive , the car flexes side to side and i can hear my tops flexing and creaking

The creaking goes with the 'territory' - I like summer. 'T' tops and rear window come off 100% of the time unless raining of leaving the car somewhere.

 

[Chuffer]

When I had my Marcos Mantara Spyder the hood rattled like an old pram top when it was up even though I devised a new rubber. sealing system ! Plus the one piece flip forward bonnet ( hood) shimmied like a belly dancer on poor road surfaces because the car had a square section tubular space frame chassis like a poor mans Maserati Bird Cage . It handled like a go kart though .